ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

ME 2560 STATICS
Chapter V. Center of Gravity
and Centroid

1
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

1. Center of Gravity and Center of Mass for a

System of Particles
Center of Gravity. The center of gravity G is the point where the
resultant weight of a system of particles is located.

z
W3 Wn

G W5
W2
W1
Wi y
W4
x
Center of gravity G of a system of
particles in space.
2
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

In a system of n particles with weight Wi (i = 1, 2 n)

The total weight is found by adding up the individual weight of the

particles. n
W R = Wi
i =1
The location at which this weight acts is determined by doing
summation of moments about a point of reference. Thus,
The summation of the moments of the weights of all the particles about
the x, y, and z axes is equal to the moment of the resultant weight about
these axes.
x WR = x1W1 + x 2W2 + ... + x nWn
yWR = y1W1 + y2W2 + ... + ynWn
z WR = z1W1 + z 2W2 + ... + z nWn
3
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

Thus, The coordinates of the center of gravity G of a system

composed by n particles is expressed as
n n n

xW i i yW i i zW i i
x= i =1
n
; y= i =1
n
; z= i =1
n

W
i =1
i W
i =1
i W
i =1
i

Center of Mass. Provided that the acceleration due to the gravity g for
every particle of the system is constant, then W = mg. Then, it
follows:
n n n

xm i i ym i i z m i i
x= i =1
n
; y= i =1
n
; z= i =1
n

m
i =1
i m
i =1
i m
i =1
i
4
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

2. Center of Gravity and Center of

Mass for a Body
Center of Gravity. Since a rigid body is assumed to be continuous, the
coordinates of the center of gravity are

x=
xdW
; y=
ydW
; z=
zdW

dW dW dW
Use of the above expressions requires a relation between the weight of
the body in consideration and its volume. If the density of the element
studied is constant, the previous expressions become

x gdV y gdV z gdV

x= ; y= ; z=
gdV gdV gdV
g represents the acceleration of gravity (9.81 m/s2, 32.2 ft/s2)
5
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

Center of Mass. The center of mass of a rigid body can be determined

using the same principles employed to determine the center of gravity.
Therefore, the center of mass of a body can be expressed as

x dV y dV z dV
x= ; y= ; z=
dV dV dV

Centroid. The centroid C is a point which defines the geometric center

of an object. If the material composing a body is uniform or
homogeneous, the density or specific weight will be constant throughout
the body which simplifies the expressions for center of mass and center
of gravity. In this specific case, the centers of mass, gravity and
geometry coincide.
6
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

Volume. When a body is subdivided into volume elements dV, the

location of the centroid for the volume of the object can be determined
by computing the moments of the elements about each of the
coordinate axes.
z
V x dV V y dV V z dV
x= ; y= ; z=
dVV V
dV V
dV

(x, y, z)
dV y
(x, y, z)

x
Calculation of the center of geometry in a volume.
7
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

Area. The centroid for the surface area of an object can be determined
by subdividing the area into differential elements of area dA and then
calculating the moments of those infinitesimal areas about each axis
of the coordinate system.
y A x dA A y dA A z dA
x= ; y= ; z=
dA A
dA
A A
dA
dA
C(x, y, z)
x

Calculation of the geometric center of an area.

8
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014
Line. If the geometry of the studied body is such as a thin rod or wire, it
can be approached to a line. The balance of moments of the differential
elements dL about each coordinate axis results in

z x dL y dL y dL
x= L
; y= L
; z= L

dL dL
L
dLL
dLL

C(x, y, z)
y

x
Calculation of the geometric center of a line segment.
9
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

3. Composite Bodies
A composite body consists of a series of connected simpler shaped
bodies, which may be rectangular, triangular, semicircular, etc.
A composite body can often be sectioned or divided into simpler parts
and if the weight and location of the center of gravity of each of these
parts are known, it is possible to determine the center of gravity of the
whole body from this information instead of carrying out the integration
of the relevant equations.
To find the center of gravity of a composite body each of the different
components of the body is treated as a particle.
n n n

xW i i yW i i zW i i
x= i =1
n
; y= i =1
n
; z= i =1
n

W
i =1
i W
i =1
i W
i =1
i

10
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

4. Resultant of a General Distributed Load

Pressure distribution on a surface. The plate shown is being subjected to
the pressure distribution expressed by P = P(x, y).
If P = P(x, y) is known, the force dF acting on the differential area dA
can be computed as dF = P(x, y) dA.
Thus, the entire loading on the plate represents then a system of parallel
forces infinite in number and each acting on a separate differential area
dA. P = P(x, y, z)
z y FR
z y

(x, y, z)

x
x
Determination of the resultant of a distributed load.
11
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

Magnitude of the resultant force. The magnitude FR is determined by

summing each of the differential forces dF acting on the entire surface
area of the plate.

FR = P ( x , y ) dA
A
Location of the resultant force. The location of the centroid ( x , y ) of FR is
calculated by setting the moments of FR equal to the moments of all the
forces dF about the respective y and xaxes
xP( x, y) dA yP( x, y) dA
x= A
; y= A

P( x, y)dA
A
P( x, y)dA
A
The line of action of the resultant force passes through the geometric
center or centroid of the volume under the distributedloading diagram.
12
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

5. Reduction of a Simple Distributed Load

In many situations a large surface area of a body may be subjected to
distributed loadings such as those caused by fluids, wind, or weight of
material supported by the surface of the body.

The intensity of these loadings at each point on the surface is defined as

pressure p (force per unit area).

The unit for pressure is pascal (Pa = N/m2) or psi (pound per square
inch). Also lb/ft2 is a unit frequently used to define pressure.

The most common case of a distributed pressure loading is the uniform

distributed loading.

13
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014
A uniform distributed loading is uniform along one axis of a flat
rectangular body upon which the loading is acting, as shown
schematically next.
p
p = p(x)

Uniform loading on a plane surface.

The direction of the intensity of the pressure load is indicated by the

arrows shown on the load intensity diagram.

14
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

The entire loading on the plate is a system of parallel forces, infinite in

number and each acting on a separate differential area of the plate. In
this case, the loading function, p = p(x), is only function of x since the
pressure is uniform along the y axis. Since the loading is uniform along
the ydirection, the previous diagram can be simplified to be presented
as
w

w(x)

L x
Bidimensional representation of a uniform loading.

15
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

Since the pressure exerted by the loading along yaxis is uniform, the
loading can be represented in terms of force per unit length by
multiplying the pressure, p(x), by the width, a, of the plate.
Thus, w(x) = a p(x). This loading function is a measure of load along
the plane of symmetry of the pressure load (line y = 0), and it is a
measure of the force per unit length.
w

w(x)

L x
Bidimensional representation of a uniform loading.

16
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

Magnitude of the Resultant Force

The resultant force FR due to the distributed loading is obtained by

adding up all the differential forces in the system. In this case, the
number of forces is infinite and therefore the expression representing the
load per unit length must integrated along the axis where the load is
applied
FR = w( x)dx
L
The magnitude of the total force is equal to the total area under the
loading diagram.
w

w(x)

L x 17
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid
ME2560 Statics Fall 2014

Location of the Resultant Force

The point at which the resultant force acts is found by doing summation
of moments for the resultant force about a reference point and equating
this expression to the summation of moments produced by each of the
forces acting on the plate about the same point. That is

xw( x)dx
X= L
FR

This equation represents the xcoordinate for the geometric center or the
centroid of the area under the distributed loading diagram w(x).
Therefore, the resultant force has a line of action which passes
through the centroid C (geometric center) of the area defined by the
distributedloading diagram w(x) 18
Chapter V. Center of Gravity and Centroid